The second song referenced in this piece (I don't think I need to link the first):
I've been thinking a lot about country music lately. Not the pop stuff, but the Outlaw Country stuff. The folky stuff. About how punk and folk are just the same music with different dressing. About how queer folk can be, and is. About how left a lot of it is, and how left it used to be especially. How left it might need to be again (if it has a chance).
About this picture:
Stay safe out there, in the darkness between hearths.
'sp00ns
Aaand now I'm sniffling loudly in my cubicle at work.... I'm always surprised and a little disappointed at how far country music has deviated from the country music I knew when I was younger. Also, I'm starting to suspect that punk may not actually be a musical genre, but a political tone that can be expressed a wide array of musical styles. No one can tell me that John Prine isn't punk! Heck, even Кино counts as technically punk, and they sound more like The Smiths than the Sex Pistols. But maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole punk thing.... and possibly country music... or just music genres altogether.
I grew up in a house where I learned more about China than a lot of kids my age. I had tangential knowledge of Japanese and Korean cultures. I could usually pick out the sounds of Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, or Korean. I wasn't really cocky about it - but I felt cool in my shoes because I thought I knew some stuff about "Asia". Then I met some people in a small Hmong community in Montana and and was reminded and humbled about what I didn't know, and how much more I still have to learn. I am still in awe of the Hmong and what they have endured. This was a really enjoyable read, thanks for sharing.